i think i've just snapped with this product.... /*EDIT: version 4.3 */

i thought i knew what i was doing, but i guess not. Am i the only idiot out here or what, I can't believe so many people are having these issues on the installation with DNN.

I think the core team should sit down and re-evaluate the installation process anddig into the root cause of these of these issues on so many different systems, and also enhance the error system: "an error occurred" - when i received that, i knew exactly where to go to rectify the problem.

An the core team is going "well, it works on my system" - i'm a developer also, and that's what i tell my clients when my software doesn't work on there systems.

so since i couldn't upgrade successfully for the past day, lets try a "fresh" install from the dotnukte\website files.

so, i copy the website into my dev directory, compile no problem, copy it over to my working IIS directory, fire it up, wow... it does ist database installation no problem.

then i click to start the portal, starts crunching for a while, lone and behold it comes up, i log on, go to edit a module and......... no text on the menu entries for the modules.... (yes yes yes, it probably can't find the resource files.. wher are they suppose to go -- because if you look at the core code - it looks in the app_globalresources, but you can't copy that folder over to your virtual directory)

i even tried without a compiled site, and same problems.

has anyone ever installed this thing without an error.. is it possible??, christ. 

i've just wasted 2 days with this, i cannot believe something is this unstable, every installation/upgrade attempt i did, i literally received a different error message.

yes i read the installation notes, videos:

- .NET Framework 1.1 must be installed ( 1.0 no longer supported ) - should'nt that read .NET 2.0

also, i won't get into the wizard not working. 

Here are my thoughts on this release of DotNetNuke 4.3.0 and the pains being felt by the DNN community.

The Core Team

I think that the way that this release has been listed in the downloads section of the DotNetNuke site is bad, It looks like it's another full release of DotNetNuke ready for production. While Shauns announcement does indicate that this is a release canadate this is not clearly identified in the downloads section.

My view is that due to the way this was announced and provided for down load is a major mistake by the core team and that it should be in a beta category rather than in final packages. I also believe that we have been very fortunate with previous releases and (from my experience) minimal effort to move DNN to production. I took me less than five minutes after a successful clean implementation of 4.3.0 to determine that this release is not production ready. Like many, this was a huge dissapointment, however once I committed to this being a release canadate then the frustration was removed. I have successfully demonstrated the new features introduced in 4.3.0 however with the realisation that this is only a preview version and thus clients remain excited.

If I look at thgis release as a preview of whats to come then I'm really excited and even more pssionate towards this project, however If I looked at this release as another production version then I too would have snapped.

The DotNetNuke Community

I have seen so many posts since the 4.3.0 release that are filled with a level of urgency and panic, statements like "My clients portals are down" or "I have lost all my members - help" etc. If you are attempting to install or upgrade version 4.3.0 in a production evnvironment without testing first then thank goodness I'm not your client.

Like all software, I do not move to production until it passes my testing. As software or service providers you have to take responsibility to ensure you are delivering a quality product or service to your clients, I would certainly not enjoy having 1 or more of my clients upset by releasing a product that has not at least provided the same expectations of an earlier version. This would not reflect badly on the DotNetNuke Core Team but would reflect on my delivery of the software or service, clients do expect you to know what you are doing.

I would welcome any core team members to put me right if my points are not accessed correctly.

In summary

Test first and get to know the build before considering production implementations, get to know how you or your clients will benifit from the enhancements and how these enhancements will impact the existing sites.

This approach will result in the community focused on bug reporting and issues rather than panic and urgency that perhaps is happening to so many currently.

From a developers view point, I have not taken this release seriously to commence development unitil the various modules are released with source.

Our community is large and hopefully focused towards the contiunation of the best portal product available.

Nina, thanks for you reply.

We are in total agreement that this release is worth shouting about. And because are impatient about releases then I think that this is as higher endorsement by the community as you can get.

I think that perhaps the download page should have at least (beta) or (release candidate) next to the download to avoid confusion to visitors who just check the downloads page.

Because the community is made up of end users, hosts, developers, novices and experts etc consideration in the way things are presented is important as you have suggested.

I also support Shaun in the release of this version, it is an important annoucement, for me it has meant that some of the new features can come of my development list and become part of the core

Best regards

Craig Hubbard